Community mourns death of Rabbi David Rafael Senter

DOVER — Rabbi David Rafael Senter, 56, of Temple Israel Portsmouth, died Friday night at the Hyder Family Hospice House surrounded by family.

Congregant Jeff Salloway described Senter as “a towering man” both physically and spiritually, a “truly charismatic leader in every sense” who “brought to the synagogue an energy, vibrancy and spirituality.”

Senter, a big man who made a big impact in his short time on the Seacoast, leaves his wife Elissa, five children, numerous grandchildren and a deeply devoted congregation. He had built strong bonds with the leaders of other faiths and served as leader and spokesman for the Seacoast Interfaith Clergy Association, which often addressed difficult issues facing the nation.

“It’s a tragic loss for our community,” said Temple President David Bachrach. “We felt blessed that he found his way to us and chose us as his congregation… We only knew him three-and-a-half years and in that time he touched everyone in the congregation and everyone is really going to miss him a lot.”

Senter became Temple Israel’s rabbi on July 1, 2014, through an unusual series of events.

Elissa said she managed to convince her "workaholic" husband to take a few days vacation in 2014 following a conference in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The two came to Portsmouth. At the time, Rabbi Senter needed to say the mourner’s prayer (Kaddish) for a deceased relative and found the temple had a minyan (quorum of Jewish adults) meeting on Tuesday. The temple was in the middle of a rabbi search and so Rabbi Senter led the prayers.

Salloway, who attended the service, recalls Senter “led the most wonderful service. Everyone was transfixed.”

He and Elissa were then invited to join congregants on a cruise on the M/V Thomas Laighton and before the night was over members were asking him to apply for the rabbi job.

The couple bought a home in Dover and quickly became part of the community. Elissa Senter serves as the chaplain for Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

In February 2017, the rabbi was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer.

In a note to the congregation on Nov. 24, he wrote “My doctor at Sloan Kettering notified me that the results of my most recent tests indicate that the cancer has progressed to a point where the focus of treatment must now be on hospice/pain management,” the rabbi wrote. “Elissa and I feel eternally blessed for the way the congregation has supported us through this journey.”

Rabbi Senter was a fourth generation rabbi, who described himself as an “under-constructionist.”

“As an under-constructionist, I understand that religion is a very personal matter and the individual must find the level of observance they are comfortable with,” the rabbi wrote. “Judaism is like a buffet; I want to help you take as much or as little as you are ready for.”

While Senter took time in the mid-1990s to run the Kosher food concessions at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium in New York, after two years he returned to his true passion, the rabbinate.

Salloway said that among his peers, Senter was considered “a remarkable combination of both mind and heart” and a “rabbi’s rabbi.”

“He had a deep and abiding respect from his peers,” Salloway said.

The funeral will take place Sunday, Dec. 3 at 12.30 p.m. at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, 666 Kinderkamack Road, Riveredge, New Jersey.

Elissa said she'll send out shiva sitting hours in Portsmouth once they are determined.

“He was a fantastic friend, husband, father, stepfather, rabbi, benevolent person who cared about all people of all faiths and denominations,” Elissa said. “He cared about the whole world.”

Temple Israel sent out an email to congregants Saturday night announcing the temple "will be open Sunday at 2 p.m. for those who would like to meet, share their grief and talk about what Rabbi David meant to them. Congregants with experience working with loss will be available to offer counsel. Following this there will also be a minyan for the afternoon service at 4 p.m."

Bachrach said in the short term, due to the rabbi’s foresight and suggestion, the temple has lined up clergy from other congregations to help with services.

Salloway, a state representative from Lee, said he'll always remember the impression the rabbi made when he gave the invocation at the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

"He came to the House of Representatives and, of course, he was a towering man and he entered the House and he spoke in such confident tones," Salloway said. "The first thing he did was to thank the representatives present for the sacrifices they and their families made in the service of the state. Then he gave a lovely prayer for the government in English but then he sang it in Hebrew and his voice rang off the walls of the House of Representatives and filled that chamber with a Hebrew litany and everyone present was just so moved by it. He brought that kind of spiritual energy everywhere he went."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.